SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State sits tied with NIU at the bottom of the MAC West standings and has won only two of its past nine The Cardinals did get a 65-62 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday. Sudanese forward Majok Majok averages a MAC-high 10 rebounds a game, and Ball State is fourth in the conference in rebounding margin at +3.2.

OUTLOOK: From here on out, it’s all West Division games on the conference schedule for NIU, including two against against Ball State, tonight and the regular-season finale in Muncie. Sophomore wing Abdel Nader led the Huskies in scoring once again in Saturday’s 59-54 loss at Buffalo, notching 13 points in just 19 minutes. One Huskie who has come on lately is freshman guard J.J. Cravatta, who is averaging 5.1 points in 15.8 minutes over the team’s past eight games.